Sixers fire Mo Cheeks

After signing Elton Brand in the offseason, the Sixers were supposed to get to the next level and compete for a top spot in the Eastern Conference. Instead they have come up well short of expectations as the Sixers are currently in last place with a 9-14 record. Unfortunately, any time a team makes a big free agent acquisition and then underachieves, someone has to pay the price. The man that will be paying the price this time is head coach Maurice Cheeks.

The Sixers have fired Cheeks and will replace him with an interim coach, director of player personnel Tony DiLeo. Cheeks spent three years coaching the Sixers and never led them to a winning record nor did he ever win a playoff series but he did about all that could have been expected with the limited talent he was given in previous years. Now that he has better talent, more was expected of him and the results just weren't there. I don't know much about his replacement, Tony DiLeo, but he's likely a placeholder until the team can bring someone else in with some experience.

The Mo Cheeks coaching era is over in Philadelphia and it was certainly less accomplished than his playing career as a Sixer. He had his moments and he should be commended for leading the Sixers to the playoffs last season when they had no business getting there. Unfortunately, he doesn't have a good track record coaching teams with talent, so the Sixers felt it was time to move on. If they can't improve this season, and fast, you may see some more big changes coming down the line.